Thomas Robinson still awaiting clearance to play

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The Rockets’ newest acquisitions arrived in New York in plenty of time to be in uniform tonight. They are unlikely, however, to actually get on the court.

With the Rockets waiting for the players dealt to Sacramento – Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich – to complete their physicals, the players they got back in the deal were not cleared to attend shootaround with the team Friday at Barclays Center. Thomas Robinson, Tyler Honeycutt and Francisco Garcia each arrived in Houston on Thursday and completed their physicals in time to catch a late flight to New York. With the time difference, the physical in Sacramento on Friday had not even started before the Rockets’ shootaround.

Without the benefit of a shootaround, Kevin McHale said he was unlikely to play them against the Nets. The Rockets don’t have another shootaround or practice until Monday. Asked what sort of role he envisions for Robinson, McHale said, “Usually, I like to see a guy play before I give him a role.

“We’re going to find out what Thomas can add to us. We’re going to miss Patrick. It’s always a bird in the hand versus two in the bush. You know what you had with Patrick. You know what you have with Marcus. Toney Douglas was part of our rotation. When you take three of your nine guys out of your rotation, that’s basically a third of your team. There will be a lot of newness.”

With Patterson and Marcus Morris dealt, McHale said Carlos Delfino will start at power forward, as he did against Serge Ibaka and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

“We have in the past,” McHale said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Delfino does not consider himself a power forward and has taken his share of kidding from teammates and coaches about being miscast in the role, though the Rockets’ offense has generally been its most effective with Delfino finishing games running the power forward portion of Rockets plays. Donatas Motiejunas will come off the bench at the position with James Anderson likely to pick up the playing time Delfino had been getting as a small forward and shooting guard.

“It’s nothing new,” Delfino said. “If I play the power forward position, I just do my best. It’s kind of like a bet. We try to go small and put the other team in a situation they need to go small by playing fast and running. They might go small rather than put two big guys on the court. I think the biggest challenge (is rebounding).

“The other day I found out I was starting 15 minutes before the game. When you are starting against (Serge) Ibaka or tonight Reggie Evans, guys like that, they’re ready to go offensive rebound. That’s the toughest part. They may be stronger than me. I will try to be quicker and do it a different way.”